Red and Black
by TheyDidn'tHaveMyName
Summary: Children of Torchwood AU so OCs. Dayton Harkness-Jones's life consists of two things. Torchwood and pizza. But how much difference can someone on the other end of a phone call make and how will her family react when they are forced to work with UNIT?
1. Attack of the Answering Machines

A/N: Today is my Fanfiction First Birthday! On this day one year ago I read my first fanfic! To celebrate I've posted a new fic. Inevitably I've returned to my Children of Torchwood Universe, but I'm getting a different perspective on it this time. This is Dayton's story.

Current members of Torchwood: Jack, Ianto, Tanwen, Dayton and Roan Harkness-Jones, Cassie Taylor, Dan Alexander and Ioan McMahon

Warnings: Bit of swearing, AU so plenty of OCs

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Chapter 1- Attack of the Answering Machines

I was thinking about finishing that report I still had to do about the communication links between UNIT and Torchwood, but then I thought about doing it later and grabbed a book from the Den's bookshelf. I loved the Den, it was a gloriously quiet haven in the busy Hub.

A TV took up most of one wall with various games consoles and a DVD player hooked up to it. A large bookcase and DVD case faced each other, both fully stocked and a variety of comfy chairs lounged about the room. In the back corner there was a reasonably comfy single bed for those occasions when someone was too tired to go home.

At the minute I had the music system on pretty loud and was happily cuddled up in a blanket with a copy of an old book.

Until my idiotic twin brother burst in the room, and I realised I should have locked the door.

"Why was your comms off DJ?" he asked.

I sighed, "Because they were Roan. And you know I hate that"

"What?"

"DJ. My name has Harkness as much in it as yours"

"Yeah but DHJ just doesn't't have the same ring to it Dayton"

"Would you like it if I started calling you RJ?"

He shrugged annoyingly, "Wouldn't mind really. What you doing anyway?"

"I'm trying to achieve an atmosphere of calm"

"Huh?"

"Or in a language you'd understand. Bugger off Roan!"

"Fine," he grumbled, "But Dad wants you. He needs you to talk to UNIT since Tad's away with Cassie on a Weevil hunt"

"Why can't Dan do it?"

"Because he's waiting for Cassie to come back so she can set his rib. He broke it"

I gasped, "Oh my god! I s he all right? What happened?"

"He's fine, he just fell off Myfanwy's ladder a bit. So you're phoning. Better hurry up there, Dad's pretty pissed"

"Fantastic," I muttered as I thumped my book to the ground.

TWTWTWTWTW

"Dayton," called my Dad from the upper level of the Hub, "I need some files off UNIT, and that idiot wont let me have them. Any chance you could talk to him?" He cut every inch of the dashing hero as his greatcoat fluttered gently behind him. I bet he had a fan behind him somewhere.

I sighed, "If you keep calling The Colonel 'That Idiot' he wont give you any files"

"I refuse to call him that"

"Why?"

"Because he… erm, because he's an idiot"

I rolled my eyes. Dad could be so eloquent sometimes. "Fine, I'll talk to him. What is it you need anyway?"

"We picked up a trace nearby, and it isn't in our records. It is in the UNIT database though"

"I could just hack it you know"

"I know you could, but I'd rather you didn't. UNIT would only step up their security. And then it'd be harder for you to hack in later"

"Could still do it," I muttered.

Dad grinned at me but shook his head.

"Fine. But I'm using your office Dad," and I shut the door before he could argue.

TWTWTWTWTW

20 minutes later I wasn't getting anywhere.

"Hi Ms Waylon," I told the woman on the end of the line this time, "It's Dayton Harkness-Jones from Torchwo-"

"Hang on Miss, I'll just have to pass you on to the archive department"

"No, no, no! Please don't-"

"CLICK"

"-do that…" I sighed and rather worryingly started yelling at the music on the other end of the line, "Stupid bloody UNIT. Stupid, complicated, pointless, idiotic-"

"Hello Miss," came a calm man's voice on the other end of the line, "I'm very pleased to discover your satisfaction with our staff today"

Oh bugger.

"Huh. You heard that?"

"Yup. Good thing I elected to take it off loudspeaker," he sounded quite young but he had a strangely calming English accent.

"Erm… thanks"

"No problem. Anything I can help you with Miss?"

"Dayton. Not Miss. Please"

The man laughed, "Anything I can help you with Dayton?"

"Any chance you can get me on the phone with The Col… I mean Colonel Hopkins. I'm from Torchwood and I need to get a look at some files, and for some reason we're not allowed access"

"I'll do my best Dayton. There's only one problem"

"What's that?"

"I've never even met the Colonel. I'm just one of the soldiers"

"But the last woman said she was transferring me to the archives department"

"Unless archives department is a fancy term for mess hall, I think she was just trying to get rid of you"

"Oh bloody brilliant!"

The man laughed again, "I think you need to find another way to get that file"

"I'll think of something. You don't sound particularly loyal, if you don't mind me saying"

"Neither would you be. Compared to this place Torchwood sounds like heaven"

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. Anyway. I have to go. Good luck with that file"

"Thanks," I said, "Oh wait. What's your name? You know, just incase of, erm…"

"Incase of what?" he asked.

"I dunno, just incase"

He laughed again, "Noah Connell"

"Right. Bye then Noah"

"Goodbye Dayton"

I sighed and touched my ear-piece. "No luck Dad. Guess I'm just going to have to hack it"

"Okay," he sighed, "But can I have my office back first?"

TWTWTWTWTW

Roan was fiddling with yet another gadget next to me.

"What's this one do?" I asked.

"I dunno yet. At least this one hasn't given me a shock," he replied, shrugging his shoulders, "How's the hack going?"

"Easy peasy. Pass me that pda over"

He threw it over and I plugged it into the computer. My monitor bleeped happily and a cycle of numbers appeared on the screen.

"I reckon you'll be in in eight minutes," said Roan.

I gasped in mock disgust, "Roan, you insult me. I'll have it in five."

"Loser buys the pizza tonight?"

I grinned and started typing, "Sure, now get back to your fiddling"

I cracked it in three and a half.

"Aw crap," moaned Roan.

"Chicken and mushroom please baby brother!"

"You're only twenty minutes older than me," he groaned as he grabbed the phone.

* * *

A/N: As always reviews are very much appreciated


	2. Little Green Monster

A/N: Thanx go to all who read and reviewed the first chapter. I love you all!

Because I forgot last time: I still own nothing of Torchwood

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Chapter 2- Little Green Monster

Later that night I noticed a new email address in my inbox from NConnell. I clicked on the email.

_Hope you don't mind, it's the only way I can get messages to you. Thought you'd like to know the word in the barracks is that the Colonel is furious because of 'Those Torchwood People.'_

_I'm assuming you found your file then._

_Well done._

_If there's anything I can help you out with, just let me know. I'll do my best._

_Noah_

I smiled. Looked as though Noah Connell didn't like the Colonel either. I emailed him back.

_I don't know what you're talking about ;-)_

_Best thing you could do is keep an eye out for me. Anything suspicious let me know._

_Thanks._

Perhaps a contact inside UNIT would prove useful.

TWTWTWTWTW

We were eating our pizza when Dad came back in from Weevil hunting. He had dragged Tad and Cassie with him and they were all covered in blood. Tad looked thrilled about that.

Dad grinned at me as he wiped away a bright streak of blood from his face. "Brilliant. See Yan, I told you that gash would heal quick"

"Eight minutes. I think that's a record," agreed Tad.

"What is it with your family and timing things Jack?" asked Cassie as she peeled off her jacket, "That's another one ruined." Cassie walked over to her autopsy bay, her heels clicking on the hub floor, "I should probably go check on Dan at some point," she called, "Make sure that rib's healing okay."

After a good few years each with Torchwood Cassie and Dan felt like yet more members of our family.

"I've got that file for you Dad," I told him, "Pizza?"

He gratefully accepted both the file and the pizza, getting blood on the rest of the pizza in the process.

"Aw Dad!" yelped Roan.

"Oh. Sorry," Dad grinned sheepishly, "I'll get another one. We need more anyway since Tan and Ioan are working tonight"

Tad grabbed the phone nearby, "I'll order it Jack. You'll probably accidentally order 42 pizzas or something"

"I'm not that bad!" protested Dad.

"Yes you are, although I wouldn't mind 42 pizzas" Roan said.

"I'm sure Tanwen can't wait to be in here on her birthday," called Cassie.

"Jack told her she didn't have to come in," replied Tad, "Besides, I was going to get them to write Happy Birthday in pepperonis on the pizza"

"Yeah, cos that's what every twenty-three year old wants Ianto."

"Oh don't worry. She's had the entire day off with Ioan," Tad suddenly had an idiotic grin on his face.

"What?" I asked him.

"Nothing," he replied.

"What Tad?" asked Roan.

"Nothing!" he insisted and then being deliberately unsubtle winked at Dad. Dad grinned back.

God I hated my parents sometimes.

Dad had resigned himself to sitting on a nearby chair and flicking through his file. I had glanced through it briefly but hadn't really taken any information in from it. It was just the same old story of an alien wreaking havoc around Wales. The kind of thing we dealt with every day.

"Lets just hope there's no rift activity tonight," he sighed.

That reminded me of something. "Oh Dad. I was in the archives a while back and I found some plans for a rift predictor," I threw him the file which he caught and began to read, "The plans were incredible. I think they date back to 2008. Whoever designed it had to imagine technology which didn't exist back then. I was curious so I worked in as much stuff as I could. And I got it working"

Tad looked over to me, "You made a rift predictor?"

"Yeah. But it's not fantastic. I couldn't find everything in the plans so it can only predict general hot-spots in the next six hours. Things like Weevils slipping through wont really come up, but I'm working on fixing it. I'll get Dan to help when he's back… what?"

Dad hadn't said anything. I looked at him and he was staring at the plans as though he'd seen a ghost. He grabbed a pen and circled something before passing the file to Tad.

"She's still looking after us Yan"

"Tosh," whispered Tad.

Me and Roan looked at each other. We knew what it meant when our parents looked like that, we had seen it enough times. That was what they looked like when they found something that reminded them of past Torchwood members. One time I'd found Tad staring sadly at a lab coat with some little badges on the lapels. That was just the price we paid at Torchwood. We all knew our lives weren't exactly guaranteed.

Except Dad's of course.

Dad coughed loudly, "So anyway. What's your predictor say about tonight?"

"Nothing big's gonna happen"

"Good, we'll worry about this case tomorrow and just concentrate on having a bit of fun tonight"

TWTWTWTWTWTW

A few minutes after the pizzas were delivered Dad's vortex manipulator beeped. He grinned and began typing on his computer, bringing up the CCTV picture of the invisible lift on the plass. He gestured Tad over to watch too. Inevitably we all gathered round as well.

We saw Tanwen and Ioan walking over to the invisible lift holding hands. As they reached it Ioan suddenly dropped onto one knee.

Cassie dropped her pizza and squealed, "What's he doing!"

Roan laughed, "What does it look like he's doing?"

Dad pressed a button on his manipulator and the lift began to descend. We could hear Tanwen squealing loudly. When they came into view she hand her arms wrapped around Ioan's neck and they were a bit too busy to notice the lift had stopped, let alone that we were there.

"Oh great," moaned Roan, "That's subtle"

I whacked his arm, "Shut up"

"Congratulations!" yelled Cassie.

Tanwen suddenly dropped her arms in shock and flushed bright red. Ioan grinned goofily and ran a hand through his messy blonde hair. He mouthed 'Thanks' to Jack who nodded back.

Tanwen ran up to Dad and hit him on the arm, "You knew he was going to do that didn't you?"

Dad laughed, "I didn't know that much actually. Most of it was Ioan and Ianto"

Tanwen hugged him and laughed, "Oh I hate you all. Thank you"

TWTWTWTWTW

Ten minutes later Cassie and I had fussed over Tanwen's ring and Roan had very comically attempted to warn Ioan not to hurt his sister. The fact that Ioan was three inches taller than him made this even funnier.

Now Tanwen was sitting cradled in Ioan's arms unwrapping the various presents we had gotten her. She giggled at the copy of 'The Bunny Suicides 16' Roan had gotten her.

As Ioan delicately kissed her forehead I suddenly felt very jealous. Not of the presents, or the attention. I realised I was feeling jealous of Ioan.

Not Ioan himself, he was like a big brother to me. Bleugh.

I was jealous of the relationship he and Tanwen shared.

Tanwen had found her soul mate, someone she could have the same relationship with that our parents shared. I couldn't help but wonder if I would ever find someone like that. I'd been out with a few guys, but it had never been anything serious. It never could be with Torchwood, and I found myself longing desperately for what Tanwen and Ioan had.

I dismissed this train of thought though when the rift alarm started beeping.

"Aw man!" yelled Roan over the alarms, "I thought you said there wasn't going to be anything tonight"

I shrugged, "I told you the predictor isn't perfect," I then decided to try my luck. Tonight might be the night that we'd get to go Weevil Hunting, "Must be a Weevil. Dad we'll get it with you"

"No you wont," called Dad, "Not tonight. Me and Cassie will get it"

"You've got to be kidding me Dad," moaned Roan, "We're eighteen years old"

"Maybe some other night Roan. Ianto can you track us?" Dad asked.

"Yup," Tad said as I started configuring the software.

"You want some coffee Tad?" I asked.

"Please love"

Tanwen followed me into the kitchen.

"God this is terrifying," she whispered.

I laughed, "Tan, you have faced a couple of Cybermen single handed. How can you find this terrifying?"

She shrugged and gazed at the ring on her finger, "I dunno"

"Look you love Ioan don't you?"

"Yeah"

"Then what's to worry about? I'm jealous to be honest"

She laughed, "You're jealous of me and Ioan?"

"Yeah. You're lucky. I watch you two together and I wonder if I'll ever have anyone that'll hold me like he does. You can tell when he looks at you, he doesn't want to lose you"

"Don't worry sis. You'll find someone"

"Yeah, I just need someone who wont have a problem with Torchwood"

"Ah"

"Yeah, but that's not important just now. Let's go see if Tad needs help"

* * *

A/N: Chapter 3 will be up as soon as its written.


	3. Essential Allies

A/N: Again thanx to all who read and reviewed, you guys are my lifeblood, or at least you are my character's lifeblood.

* * *

Chapter 3- Essential Allies

I was checking my e-mails later that night when I noticed a new one from Noah.

_Thought you'd better see this. A mate of mine in the upper ranks is worried about his sister. _

_Thanks. Noah_

He'd attached a video clip of a UNIT briefing. It was obviously being taped from a laptop webcam as the angle was odd and the picture fuzzy.

_The Colonel sat at the head of the table as various officers argued about various matters. It was all rather tedious until a projection of a page from the file I'd had to hack from UNIT was displayed behind the Colonel._

_An officer spoke from off-screen, "We've been tracking a string of deaths through the city centre. The death count is at six, all females. The indicated cause is a cell of Plasmavores. Sir I believe we should investigate"_

_The General snorted, "Six deaths. That's hardly anyone. I wouldn't call that a threat to National Security, would you?"_

"_Well, erm. No sir, I guess, but intelligence suggests the cells numbers are around ten sir."_

"_I repeat. It is none of our concern"_

The video ended there. I narrowed my eyes. I was very quickly understanding why Dad hated the Colonel so much. Idiotic bastard didn't give a damn about anything.

I quickly e-mailed Noah back.

_I owe you. I'll see what I can do. Tell your mate we're working on it._

Then I ran to Dad's office.

"Dad I've got a lead on those deaths. Apparently its not worthy of the mighty UNIT"

Dad didn't smile, "Typical bloody UNIT. No care for the little people. Only those who are 'important' and Homeland Security. What do you know?"

"It's a cell of around 10 plasmavores"

Dad sighed suddenly, "I knew it"

"What are they Dad?"

"Effectively vampires, but they're worse. They become parasites to planets by offering to guard a certain area in return for a few lives every few months to keep them going. If there's a cell here they'll be wanting to take a hold on Cardiff. I can't let them do that"

"Then we stop them"

"Easier said than done"

"How come?"

"You said 10 Plasmavores. Cells are usually fully matured and powerful. We would be lucky to take them one-on-one. We need help"

"Torchwood 2?"

"No unfortunately. I just got a message a few hours ago saying they'd all been exposed to an alien flu. Harmless in the long run but highly contagious. It'll render them useless for a few weeks while they recover. God knows we don't want an outbreak, we barely got away with that bird-flu excuse last time"

"What about Luke Smith and his team?"

"After Sarah-Jane making me promise to keep them away from us there's no way I can involve Luke and Clyde"

I sighed as I realised what this meant. "UNIT?"

Dad groaned, "Looks like it"

TWTWTWTWTWTW

Three men and two women stood before us. All wore identical black uniforms and red berets. Each had a gun strapped to their jackets. I looked at the UNIT soldiers in front of us and couldn't help the cold look on my face. These people were soldiers. They were trained to shoot then think.

The man closest to me at the end of the line saluted sharply at my Dad, "Sir" he called.

Dad nodded his head in recognition and turned to face the Colonel. The man winked at me.

I blinked in shock, wondering if he'd really just winked at me. Apparently he had as he grinned at me. He had deep brown eyes and I could see strands of short brown hair trying to escape from under the bright red beret. He didn't look any older than me and I wondered how someone my age could work for UNIT.

I moved closer to him and raised an eyebrow.

In response he glanced in the direction of Dad and the Colonel then stuck his tongue out at them for a second.

I couldn't help gaping.

He leant closer and whispered, "Anything I can help you with Miss?"

I gasped as I recognised his soft English accent. "Noah?"

He nodded and he grinned at me, "Looks like I'm looking after you"

For the first time that morning I genuinely smiled, "I can look after myself," I whispered back.

"Five soldiers!" yelled my Dad interrupting our conversation, "That's the best you can offer Hopkins. Five soldiers who are barely any older than my daughter"

Noah pulled a face and mouthed 'daughter?' at me. I flushed red and nodded before quickly walking towards the arguing men.

"Harkness I cannot spare the man-power on a trivial errand"

My Dad was visibly shaking, "Trivial! Since when was the safety of Cardiff a trivial matter?"

"The way I see it this base exists only to keep you in check Harkness. We are a small base with few soldiers and we are charged with ensuring your silly little team doesn't blow up the world. You can go play heroes if you want. A matter like this is hardly cause for concern. It is similar to one of your Weevil attacks"

"Is it hell! Do you not remember the last time Earth ran into a plasmavore? It took the Doctor and a whole squadron of Judoon to stop her. And that was one old plasmavore. This is ten mature plasmavores. We need to work together"

"I'm afraid that's the best I can do"

I decided I'd better step in at this point before Dad shot someone, "Dad, its fine. If that's the best he can offer then we just have to work around it. Colonel we appreciate the help you're giving us and me and Dad will return to our base. Your soldiers will be well looked after. We guarantee it"

As I grabbed Dad's arm and dragged him away I heard the Colonel muttering to the officer standing beside him, "I don't see why it should be my bloody problem if he allows untrained personnel on his team just because he's related to them"

I pulled a face and marched right back to the Colonel. "Untrained?" I struggled not to yell, "Colonel I have grown up around the world of aliens. I have had firearms and weapons training from my parents since I was fourteen. I am a fully competent tech expert and only one man knows more about the Torchwood archives than I do. In short, Colonel, I am here not through my own choice. I am here because a large cell of aliens are threatening the lives of the people of Cardiff and unfortunately we haven't enough men to take care of them ourselves. I have studied UNIT's methods and as far as I can tell UNIT has gone balls-up since Martha Milligan left a decade ago, unfortunately, you're soldiers are the only ones who can help us. I may only be eighteen but I would bet that I know more about the world of aliens than you do and therefore Colonel, I am anything but untrained!" With that I stomped back towards the soldiers.

"It would appear that she has inherited her people skills from you Harkness," said the Colonel.

"Actually," replied Dad, "She got that from Ianto. Believe me you do not want to piss that man off. And its Harkness-Jones"

Noah half-smiled half-gaped as he whispered to me, "Remind me never to make you angry"


	4. Don't Judge a Book

A/N: Again, as I can't say it enough, a massive thank you to all who are reading this

* * *

Chapter 4- Don't Judge a Book

Tad had excelled himself by booking one of the nicest hotels in the city for the five UNIT soldiers. The plan was that they would stay in the hotel or the hub during the day and starting the next day we'd pull together and search for the plasmavores at night. When I visited the group in their hotel suite they were thrilled.

"This is fantastic," beamed one guy. He was called David Ross and despite his scary green eyes, he was pretty cool.

Another guy called Callum agreed, "It's like a holiday. Back at the base we've always got Captain Marks on our case. Here there's nobody yelling at us. And free room service"

The two girls Kathy and Jane nodded enthusiastically. Kathy had long blonde hair that she tying into a tight bun as she spoke, "And the work seems pretty easy"

I was sitting on the edge of the sofa trying not to look as awkward as I felt as the others laughed and joked with each other. Noah was next to me reading a book. He occasionally glanced up at me and to my surprise would hold my gaze.

It was a different dynamic to the one I was used to at the Hub. At the Hub we were relaxed, but there was always an underlying tension. Here, however, it felt more like a bunch of teenagers hanging out. Except they were all in identical white t-shirts with the UNIT insignia and combats.

Dad had been right about their ages. Noah was the oldest, and he was still only twenty, although I found this funny as I was still only eighteen myself.

"How long have you all been in UNIT?" I asked.

Callum stopped trying to make the games-console work and turned to face me, "Erm… five months I think"

From the looks I got I realised that my face hadn't hidden my shock well.

"What?" asked David.

"My Dad's not going to like that"

Noah put down his book, "Why not?"

"Because no offence meant but he'll think you're not experienced enough and that the Colonel has deliberately sent you guys to, erm… hold us up"

Noah shrugged his shoulders, "Wouldn't surprise me if that's the Colonel's plan"

Jane nodded, "It's a well-known fact that he hates you Torchwood guys"

"But we'll show him. We wont hold you up," said Noah and he grinned at me, "Promise"

TWTWTWTWTWTW

I was trying to run a translator programme on a broadsword we had found when Noah sneaked up behind me.

"Dayton"

I jumped, "Jesus Noah! What are you doing here?"

He smiled at me, "I was wondering if you'd get me a coffee. I've heard your skills are legendary"

I frowned, "Who from?"

"Your Tad"

"Huh, well I guess that's the ultimate seal of approval. I'll bring one over to you"

His face fell slightly, "Oh. I was just also kind of wondering if I could stay in here. I mean the rest of the soldiers are still in the hotel, and I'm going to go crazy if I have to spend every minute with them," he leaned forward to whisper and I could feel the heat radiating from his body, "And quite frankly its freezing outside"

"So much for the big brave soldier routine," I laughed.

He covered his mouth in mock horror, "Oh damn, you've found me out! I'm just a big wimp in reality!"

He smiled at me again and his eyes seemed to sparkle.

"Of course you can stay in. You can help me with this programme"

He suddenly looked a bit startled, like a rabbit in the headlights, "But I, uh… erm… I don't know anything about erm… whatever this is"

"I'll teach you then," I passed him my pda with a screen of symbols and then the broadsword, "Just try to match the symbols. Then I can run it through the translator"

He nodded and I went to get him his coffee.

I bumped into Tanwen in the kitchen. She was glaring in Noah's direction.

"What's he doing in here?"

"He's bored so I'm getting him a coffee. And then he's going to help me with the translation"

"Dad's gonna kill you. You know he doesn't trust him"

"I don't see why not. He hasn't spent more than thirty seconds in the same room as him. And its not like Noah would do anything"

"But he's UNIT. You know what Dad's like about them."

"I get that he hates UNIT, and I know none of us like them in particular. But Noah's different"

"How do you know?"

"Because I've actually spent a bit of time with him in the hotel. And he's the one that told us about UNIT. We owe the plasmavore lead to him"

"Doesn't mean I have to trust him"

"Oh shut up. I trust him"

"You barely know him," she looked at me and I felt myself blush. "You better know what you're doing," she said quietly.

I sighed as she walked out of the kitchen. Bloody Torchwood. Bloody UNIT.

It probably wouldn't matter if Noah was the nicest, most generous person in the world. In Torchwood's eyes, and therefore the eyes of my family, he would always be a UNIT soldier. And UNIT soldiers shouldn't be trusted.

"How you getting on?" I asked him as I gave him his coffee.

He grinned proudly, "I've matched up all this side"

"Brilliant, thanks," I couldn't help stare into his deep brown eyes for just a fraction of a second too long and like he had in the hotel he held my gaze.

I quickly tried to refocus on the task of translating. As I furiously typed codes and patterns to translate the sword the already limited conversation stilted.

"Erm, so when you're not being a soldier, what do you do?" I asked hesitantly.

"Um, I watch TV and DVDs, hang out at the pub erm…"

"Is that it?" I laughed.

"Dayton, I'm a twenty-year-old soldier for a 'secret' government organisation. What else would I be doing?"

"Good point. We hardly get to have a life around here. What's your favourite film then?"

"Star Wars"

"Oooh, a fan of the classics. Original or the new ones"

He grinned, "The originals. My dad was a fan and got me into them when I was a kid. I always wanted a light-sabre when I was growing up"

I smiled, "Me too. I would have been a brilliant Jedi, I could have done the ninja type stuff, and the mystical wisdom kind of thing"

"Yeah, shame there's no such thing as Jedis"

"There is though"

"What?"

"Yeah, well I think there is anyway. I mean there has to be a race like that somewhere in the Universe, I'm just hoping Obi-Wan comes through the rift some day. Hey, we could go watch it if you want. I mean this programme just needs to run now, and it doesn't need me"

"Can we?"

I nodded and pulled him to the Den. I grabbed the key from the shelf next to the door and he looked curiously at the lock.

"It's from when we were little. Dad was never… the most responsible parent and after he and Tad had to go Weevil hunting one day and Dad decided the best place to put Tanwen to keep her safe by herself was in an empty cell with a box of pizzas to keep her going Tad made him build the Den so we'd be safe if they had to leave"

Noah laughed and his eyes seemed to sparkle slightly in the light.

"It's really just for relaxing in now, but the lock gives a bit of privacy, and there's not much of that in this place"

I opened the door to my little haven and Noah gaped at our collection of DVDs.

"Star Wars will be on the shelf second from the bottom," I told him.

"How do you know?" he asked as he pulled out the correct DVD.

"Their alphabetical. Tad's borderline OCD. Just don't mix them up. Tad will kill you then Dad will resurrect you and kill you again because Tad will make decaff for a week"

He laughed again, "And lets face it I don't need any black marks on an already tarnished record"

"You haven't got a tarnished record"

His smile vanished, "Yes I do, they don't like me"

"They do like you"

"Oh come on Dayton. The first thing your Dad said to me was, 'Don't touch a thing. I don't want anything to get back to the Colonel.' He doesn't trust me"

I moved closer to him and he put the DVD down, "That's just them being idiots. They have no reason not to like you. I like you"

He made the distance between us even smaller, "Its nice to have a fan"

And suddenly I felt his soft lips touch mine. He pulled back after a second and watched me carefully.

"What was that?" I asked.

Noah flushed bright red to match his beret, "I just erm… I thought that erm… I mean if-"

I cut him off by pressing my lips to his own. After a few seconds I pulled away from him.

"Huh," he said quietly as he rested his hands on my waist, "You're Dad's really going to kill me now"

* * *

A/N: I promise that its going to get much more Torchwoody in the next chapter.


	5. Feelings of Terror

A/N: It's double chapter bonus time! I got bored of studying physics and so devoted my time to the fic. Massive thanx must go to my mate Ben who introduced me to the Twilight soundtrack (and consequently Twilight) which helped so much with the fluffier aspects of these two chapters.

* * *

Chapter 5- Feelings of Terror

"Plasmavores," explained Dad to everyone in the boardroom, "Are a race of aliens who are effectively vampires. Occasionally a few of them have found their way to Earth, such as Dracula-"

"Wait," said David suddenly, "Dracula was real?"

Dad nodded, "But he was just one plasmavore. These are a highly trained, highly dangerous unit of fighting aliens…"

I kind of zoned out at that point. Noah was sitting next to me and had suddenly brushed his fingers against my leg. I shivered and Tanwen looked at me. I shrugged and mouthed "Cold," to her.

When she turned back to Dad I glared angrily at Noah, but he wasn't looking at me. He was taking notes on what Dad was saying, and I realised I had stopped taking mine. I quickly copied 'Only direct shot to head' onto my pad and tried to listen again.

"… Bullets will slow them down, but just hitting them won't kill them. You need to sever the spinal…"

Noah's fingers brushed my leg again and this time I slapped his hand. A few people heard the faint slapping noise and I pretended I'd dropped my pen onto the floor. Noah was grinning at me.

"… We have a faint trace of their DNA which is running through the tracker just now, Ianto I want you…"

Before he could do it again I grabbed Noah's hand and held it in my own while writing with my other hand. He continued to do the same. I glanced at him and he smiled, apparently satisfied with this arrangement. I just hoped Dad couldn't see us.

"You think you can all handle that?"

I nodded at Dad with the others and made a mental note to ask Roan what the heck he'd been talking about.

Bloody boys.

TWTWTWTWTW

For three nights we chased traces around the streets of Cardiff. The closest we got was on the second night when the monitor in the SUV showed the trace just a few minutes away. But by the time we got there another girl had lost her life. We had been too late.

The first time we went out, Roan and Callum were arguing about who should be shotgun. Roan eventually won the argument and Callum was forced to sit in the back he grinned at me and let me sit next to Noah.

"Don't want to get between you two," he whispered to me.

Clearly Noah wasn't as good at keeping secrets as I was.

Despite his dislike of UNIT Roan was clearly enjoying the jeep. Very occasionally he even smiled and joined in with the conversations between Cassie, David and Callum.

It was a good thing I had finished school a few months before as the nights took their toll. I normally wouldn't wake up until three in the afternoon.

On the fourth night we finally got lucky. Tad and Jane managed to catch one of the plasmavores on the CCTV scanner and using this they were able to track the cell. When we caught up with them they were in a dark alley.

"How predictable is that. They could have tried to shock us, gone to a wide open, bright place, but no. They go to the most obvious place possible," complained Roan as Tad told us the co-ordinates.

David laughed, "You scared Roan?"

"Of course I'm scared. They're vampires. I haven't even been allowed to catch a Weevil yet,. The only reason me and Dayton are allowed out the Hub just no is because your Colonel won't help us any more" replied Roan.

David patted him on the shoulder, amazingly still able to follow Dad's manic driving, "Don't worry. We'll be fine Roan"

TWTWTWTWTW

I reasoned that perhaps it was the dark alley, but the plasmavores were truly terrifying. The ten figures hovered ominously in front of us.

Even if I was immortal like Dad I would have hesitated to go anywhere near them. Of course Dad went straight up to them.

"My name is Captain Jack Harkness-Jones from Torchwood," he announced as one of the plasmavores came close to him, "I have to tell you to leave this planet under legislation 28 of the Shadow Proclamation"

Despite what Dad had told us I still expected a snarling creature with fangs. In reality the plasmavore looked like a perfectly normal human being, except for his deep black eyes. He towered over Dad.

"What if we don't want to?"

Dad remained calm, "I refuse to allow you to use this city as a food source. Too many people in my care have died and there will be no more. We can send you back through the rift to a new planet. But you and your kind will not stay here"

I couldn't help but envy him and wonder if I'd ever be as brave.

The plasmavore glared at him and whispered, "Is that so?"

"Yes"

Callum quietly clicked his fingers and in unison the five UNIT soldiers cocked and readied their guns. If I wasn't so terrified I'd have probably laughed. Instead I also readied my semi-automatic as did the others. The plasmavores behind the leader appeared to shrink back slightly.

I noticed Tanwen and Ioan squeeze each other's hands for a fraction of a second before returning to their firing stances. I also noticed my gun shaking. Or rather that I was shaking.

"Unfortunately we cannot leave," said the plasmavore in his terrifying whisper, "You see we've discovered that the blood of your people is… what's the word? Oh yeah. Delicious"

Noah shuddered beside me.

"So be it," said my Dad. And he whipped out his webly and shot the plasmavore in the head. It shrieked as it fell and the one directly behind it lunged at Dad. The soldiers hesitated for a second, fearful of shooting Dad before they remembered he couldn't die and opened fire. They took out another two under the rapid fire but the plasmavores kept moving forward past Dad's still form.

I glanced around and saw the others firing a barrage of bullets at the plasmavores and realised that I hadn't fired a single shot.

"Idiot," I yelled at myself before opening fire.

I heard Cassie yell, "Four down!" before I heard a scream. Distracted I looked to my left and saw that one had gotten Jane who had been standing furthest forward. Cassie immediately turned her fire on this plasmavore until it dropped. She fired a few more bullets into it before dragging Jane back.

Dad finally revived and used his position behind the plasmavores to take them by surprise, landing a shot to another one in the back of its head.

I paused and quickly counted that we'd taken out six of the ten.

And that was when I was forced to the ground and I felt a burning pain in my arm. Suddenly all I saw were the jet black eyes of a plasmavore. I vaguely heard someone yelling my name as I fired my gun at the weight pinning me to the ground. The plasmavore screeched in pain then glared at me.

"You wont be safe," he whispered before he vanished in a bright light leaving a metallic taste in the air.

On the edges of my vision I could see a few more bright spots of light before Cassie leant over me.

"Did it get you?" she asked.

My vision was blurred by tears as I struggled against the pain, "Where'd it go?"

"Teleport. We lost them. Did it get you?"

The pain was unbearable now and I screamed, "Arm! Cassie! Arm!"

I saw a flash of red before it was shoved out the way to be replaced by my Dad. Then everything went black.

TWTWTWTWTW

The next thing I knew I was in the autopsy bay. For a terrifying second I thought I was a corpse but then I heard the beep of the heart monitor beside me. Tad grabbed my hand and yelled, "She's awake!"

"How long was I out?" I asked. I was kind of used to unconsciousness as not only had I seen people attacked at various points in my life but I had one of the most idiotic brothers in the world who had a habit of dropping things from the upper levels of the Hub.

"Eight hours," he said.

Cassie was still checking me over. "You seem to be all right. Thankfully plasmavores aren't venomous. It got a bit of your blood but you'll make that up pretty quick"

And suddenly I remembered. "Its coming back," I whispered.

"What?" asked Tad, concern flooding his blue eyes.

"It told me I wouldn't be safe," I started to panic, "Tad its coming back for me!"

Tad grabbed me in a hug and I relaxed in his protective embrace. "We wont let it get you. I promise."

Things started flooding back to my memory. "What happened to Jane?"

Tad's face fell.

"I was too late. It had severed her aorta."

"I barely knew her"

Tad squeezed my hand, "I know. Your Dad's taken it pretty badly"

"How?"

"You know him. He thinks its his fault. And he's terrified about you"

"I better go see him then," and then I remembered the most important thing, "Where's Noah?"

Tad frowned, "I'm not sure actually. He disappeared after you all came back"

TWTWTWTWTW

Dad was in his office with a cup of coffee. He was pretending to fill in a report. He looked up when I walked in and relief flooded his face.

"You scared me"

I held up my hands, "Sorry. My fault. I wasn't focusing"

"I knew I shouldn't have let you come," he muttered.

"What?"

"It's too dangerous for you and Roan to be on field work"

"You let Tan on field work when she was our age"

"And I don't think I should have"

I rolled my eyes, "That's rubbish Dad. Apart from being attacked it was one of the coolest things I've done. And two of the UNIT guys are younger than me"

Dad frowned heavily, "Yeah well that's UNIT"

"Why do you hate them so much, we're on the same side"

"Because they don't care about the people that matter. Its all soldiers and rules and procedure to them. They're always too busy making sure their boots are shiny to really make a difference. They used to be better, before you were born and when Martha worked for them. But with people like Colonel Andrew Hopkins in charge they make things difficult," then as a final point the added, "And they always think they have authority over this place. How many times, we're beyond the United Nations"

I almost laughed at the last bit. Instead I told him about the plasmavores promise. As I told him he looked increasingly worried.

"Is it going to come after me?" I asked eventually.

He nodded sadly, "It'll have decided it likes the… taste of your blood. Its probably going to keep trying to get to you until we kill it. Which we will," he added.

"Oh great," I mumbled as I tentatively touched the bandage around my arm, "Dad, let Roan go on the next Weevil hunt. I think that after all this he's ready"

"What about you?"

"I'm not sure yet"

TWTWTWTWTWTW

I eventually found Noah outside when I'd gone for a walk.

He was sitting on the steps of the basin with a large coat on over his uniform. I saw a flash of red as he wrestled his beret between his hands. I went up to him and sat down next to him. I could hear faint rock music drifting from his earphones.

"You all right?" I asked.

He looked up, having not even noticed I was there, and took out his earphones. "Thank god you're okay" he said quietly.

"I'm fine, its nothing a plaster wont fix. I'm worried about you"

"I'm fine now that you're okay," he smiled and put his arm around my shoulder.

"I didn't realise I was so important"

"To be honest, and don't hit me, neither did I. I've known you for what four days-"

"A week. If you count that phone call"

"A week," he agreed, "But still a very, very short period of time. And when that, that thing was on you… I just realised that," he sighed, "That I didn't want to lose you. I just don't think I could take it"

I gazed at him, unable to believe what he'd just said. "I promise I wont get lost then"

Suddenly, through only a few conversations and a few, well, more than a few, secret kisses, I'd found someone I had that relationship with. That magic element in my life I'd been looking for. And when I looked into his eyes their normal sparkle has been replaced with absolute seriousness.

"You'd better not"

"In fact Noah, I promise I will always carry a map"

He laughed, "Now that's just a bit silly"

"Are you going to come back inside?"

"Yeah"

* * *


	6. Developments

A/N: So this is a massive chapter, but it refused to be written any other way...

* * *

Chapter 6- Developments

When we went back inside the Hub it seemed to be deserted. A quick look around revealed everyone to be in the boardroom. Even the UNIT guys.

The only two seats around the table were opposite each other, so we wouldn't be able to sit next to each other. I slid quietly into my seat and tried very unsuccessfully to pretend I'd always been there.

"Where were you?" asked Dad.

"I was finding Noah," I pointed to him, "And I found him"

"Clearly," agreed Dad, "But why did you go alone?"

I frowned, "Am I not supposed to?"

"No. Not with a plasmavore potentially tracking you. Everyone else has been briefed and we all agree you should stay in the Hub until further notice"

"Oh come on Dad!" I began but I was cut off as Tanwen and Ioan stood up to leave. "Where are you two going?" I asked.

"We're going to look for venues for the big day," replied Tanwen. She was still wary of referring to it as their wedding then.

"But I got the detector working better and its predicting some Weevils later," I complained.

Tanwen theatrically weighed up her options, "Hmmm. Chasing Weevils through the sewers or a day out with Ioan? What to do? What to do?"

Tad interrupted her and they slipped out of the boardroom. "I've just received a request for a video conference from the Colonel"

"Brilliant," groaned Dad. He then sighed, "Put him on Yan"

Tad pressed a few buttons and the Colonel's face appeared on the projector.

"Harkness!" he barked.

"Harkness-Jones!" barked Dad back much to Roan's amusement.

"Whatever," sneered the Colonel.

Dad turned to Tad, "See what I mean. Idiot"

"Jack," cautioned Tad, "How can we help Colonel?" he asked brightly.

"I understand that you intercepted the plasmavores last night," said the Colonel, his voice harsh, "I trust therefore that you do not need any more use of my soldiers"

"On the contrary Colonel. The extra help would be greatly appreciated," replied Tad.

"Too bad you're not going to get it. I require them back at base"

"Colonel-" began Tad who's diplomatic skills were always so much better than Dad's.

"Need I remind you that under your command one of my soldiers was killed?" asked the Colonel sternly.

"Sir, we apologise for the loss of Jane Adams, but to prevent further loss of life we need to stop the remaining plasmavores. And to do that we could use the help of David, Callum, Kathy and Noah"

Dad suddenly slammed his fist on the table, "Damnit Hopkins! Let them help us!"

We watched as the Colonel had a discussion with an officer out of shot.

"That'll be Marks," muttered Callum.

The Colonel nodded his head and spoke again, "On review we can allow only one soldier to stay. As Connell is the oldest I elect he stays and the others return"

"You're enjoying this Colonel, aren't you," asked Dad, "Making me ask you for help. Well fine. We accept" he reached over to Tad's laptop and shut it down cutting off the Colonel, "I hate that man," he announced grumpily.

"Really. We didn't get that," said Tad and he smirked at him.

TWTWTWTWTW

We said goodbye to the UNIT guys later that day. Even Dad saw them off, although he claimed he was saying goodbye to the jeep. I didn't miss David punch Noah lightly on the arm and wish him good luck with a quick glance at me.

"Hey, good luck with Marks. He wont be happy that you got a holiday," laughed Noah.

"Oh God," groaned Callum. He smiled at Tad, "Can't we stay here?"

Tad smirked, "I don't think so. But we know who to call on if there's a crisis"

Callum seemed pretty satisfied with that.

"You know, for UNIT people… I guess you aren't really that bad," said Roan.

"Thanks Roan," said Kathy, "I guess for Torchwood people you aren't that bad either. And I told you we wouldn't hold you up"

Roan nodded, "I've got to admit that gun thing was pretty cool"

David grinned, "My idea. That's right, the boy's a genius"

"Push off David," muttered Noah.

David laughed and did indeed push off and the big jeep left our private car park.

"Am I going back to the hotel?" asked Noah.

"Yes," said my Dad, slightly harshly.

"Oh." Noah's face fell and it was obvious he'd been hoping for a permanent pass into the hub.

Dad's rift alarm on his wriststrap went off, "Uh Oh. No rest guys. Weevils. Lots of them. Erm, since Tan and Ioan are away it'll have to be me, Ianto and Cassie"

"And Roan?" suggested my brother.

Dad looked reluctant.

"Let him go. You need the help since Dan's not back yet," I said.

"Fine," agreed Dad finally, "But you go straight to the Hub. And Noah you keep an eye on her"

Roan punched the air as they all climbed into the SUV.

As they drove off we turned to the fake fire door we used to get to the Hub and Noah whispered in my ear, "Keep an eye on you. I think I can just about manage that"

TWTWTWTWTW

I passed Noah his cup of coffee. He smiled appreciatively and I couldn't help but notice his eyes seem to sparkle again slightly.

"Your coffee's incredible," he said.

"Thanks," I stared around the empty Hub and pressed a few keys on my keyboard.

"When are the rest of the team going to be back?" asked Noah.

"I don't know, I mean its just a couple of Weevils, so I'd say about half an hour"

Noah pulled his chair closer to mine, "That decides that then"

I frowned, "Decides wh-" I began, but he pressed his lips to mine. Shock meant I didn't respond for a second but then my brain caught up. I deepened the kiss and wrapped my arms around his neck. He ran his hands up my back and a shiver ran down my spine. I cupped his cheek in my hand and he rested his on my lower back.

That was when I heard Tad's voice across the comms, "Dayton any chance you could get a couple of extra cells ready? There's more Weevils than we thought"

I sighed as I broke the kiss and Noah moaned softly. I tapped my earpiece, "Sure Tad, how many do you need?"

"Enough for six more. Thanks love, we'll be back in about ten minutes"

I looked at Noah, his flushed face almost matched his red beret again. I couldn't help but laugh, "I hate this place"

Noah asked quietly, "How long does it take to get a cell ready?"

I tapped a few keys on the keyboard, "Six cells in the vaults being configured to optimum Weevil habitat and environment," I grinned at him, "Done"

He pressed his body close to mine, "So we have… eight minutes?"

"Sounds about right," I agreed.

TWTWTWTWTWTW

Needless to say we lost track of time a little bit. When the alarm went off signalling the cog door opening we sprang apart. Noah quickly realigned his beret grinning at me goofily. I sat down and began pretending to type, hoping and praying my face wasn't as flushed as Noah's.

Roan nearly toppled my chair over with joy when he saw me, "I caught a Weevil sis!" his was talking really quickly and was grinning like a mad man, "I was nearly killed but I caught one. It bit me, right here!" he pointed at a thick bandage wrapped around his arm, "Cassie's gonna give me stitches later and she says I'm lucky to be alive. Tad nearly had a panic attack of course but I caught one!"

"That's great Roan," I laughed.

He hi-fived me then realised Noah was there. I didn't miss the glare that crossed his face for a fraction of a second before he replaced it with a smile again. It was cold though and Noah noticed. I couldn't help but remember how I reacted the same way to UNIT before I met Noah. Stupid bloody UNIT.

Something told me Roan would always feel the same way about UNIT. And so would my parents.

Great.

TWTWTWTWTWTW

"Dad! Why the hell can't I go out for a walk?"

"Because you are potentially being tracked by a plasmavore. I cannot keep you safe in the outside world. You should stay in the Hub, it's the safest place on the planet" replied Dad angrily yet again.

Unfortunately whenever me and Dad got into an argument it tended to go in circles for ages. While Tanwen took the prize for the most temperamental Harkness-Jones kid, I was definitely the most stubborn.

"What if I just want to go out for chips"

"We'll order them in"

"Gah! I'm going to go crazy!"

"At least you'll be alive"

"For god's sake! I want to be outside"

"Too dangerous"

"It's broad daylight"

"They don't work like stereotypical vampires Dayton!"

"I don't care! I want to go for a walk"

"No!"

Noah stuck his head round the door. He had been helping me with the translator again and perhaps foolishly was trying to help me here too, "What if someone went with her?" he asked.

Dad paused and turned his glare on Noah.

Noah blanched and reverted to soldier mode, "Withdrawing the suggestion Sir. Sorry"

"No," I said, "Why not?"

Dad suddenly relented as he'd finally run out of replies.

"If Noah came with me, he'd be like an armed guard"

"You're asking me to trust him with your life?"

"Erm," mumbled Noah, suddenly regretting having gotten involved if yet another insult was coming his way.

"No. I'm asking you to trust me. I can look after myself, Noah would be extra protection. That's all. One shot to the head, easy."

"Aren't you scared Dayton?" asked Dad.

"Yeah, but I'm used to this kind of thing. The first person I remember apart from you and Tad is Craig Stewart"

Dad's face became sad as it took on that familiar expression of regret, "You were only three Dayton"

"And then I remember he wasn't there anymore"

"I liked that kid, he was just out of university. He was killed on a stupid standard mission. You remember him?"

"Yeah. I remember everyone. But if I was constantly scared what kind of life would I have Dad? Just let me go"

Realising that he was beaten Dad sighed, "Fine, but only for a little while. And he can't wear that uniform. Or take that gun of his"

TWTWTWTWTWTW

"That's a shame," I said as Noah emerged from behind the door, "I prefer it when you wear the beret"

He grinned and stepped closer to me, "I'll remember that. In the meantime I am your armed guard and if you want to go outside I need to be in plain clothes"

He was dressed in a pair of jeans and a soft red hoody, with matching red converses.

I rolled my eyes, "This is ridiculous. I just want to go for a walk. And I can look after myself"

"I know that. But your options are walk with your family, not at all, or me"

"Ooh, that's tough," I whispered, "I guess, that if they're my only options it'll just have to be you"

"Glad to hear it." He kissed me quickly before checking the small semi-automatic he'd been given.

"Hand-guns," he said quietly, "Bit odd, but oh well"

"You won't need it"

"I hope not," he said as we walked outside.

As we walked along the Cardiff streets I slipped my hand inside his.

"I like this," he said.

"Me too. We're not a UNIT and Torchwood officer just now. We're just Noah and Dayton"

"You realise that they probably can see us on CCTV"

"I don't care. Besides, we can always tell them that it's a cover story. We're a lot less suspicious if we're a couple," I reasoned.

His smile dropped a little, "I don't like hiding"

"Neither do I, but if UNIT knew they'd reassign you, and if my parents knew…"

"What?"

"I don't know. But I don't think it would be good. Dad only ever had a mild tolerance of UNIT back when Martha worked for them. With the Colonel in command he absolutely hates them"

"Why?"

"I don't know, it was something that happened a while back between them, I think Dad must have stopped the Colonel's promotion or something like that because he knew he was…"

"Incompetent?"

"Yeah. Either way, they hate each other, and now Dad refuses to trust almost anything to do with UNIT"

"Ah, I see. I'm dangerous"

I grinned, "You could look at it that way"

"Come on," he said as he pulled my hand, "I'm going to get you some chips"

"Wow, now that's romantic," I told him sarcastically and he grinned at me.

TWTWTWTWTWTW

Since Noah had adopted the position of my assigned guard it wasn't difficult to come up with excuses to be together. We had sort of silently agreed that we didn't want my family to know about us. This drove me crazy because whenever I wanted to be only with Noah we were stuck with the rest of the team.

Dad told me one evening, "We're going to check out that hotspot you predicted. Cassie and Roan are on a Weevil hunt, they should be back in about an hour. I'm not very happy about leaving you alone here"

I just smiled at him. "I'm not alone. Noah's with me"

Dad eyed Noah suspiciously, "I guess"

"Besides, I can look after myself Dad"

He reluctantly left with Tad to go and protect the world and Noah almost tackled me as soon as the cog door rolled shut.

"Noah," I moaned into his shoulder, "They might not be gone yet"

"They're gone, don't worry"

I wrapped my arms in their now standard position around his neck, "We've got an hour Noah," I whispered, "And the Hub's deserted"

He stopped kissing my neck and stared at me, "Really?"

I nodded. He grinned and placed his beret on my head. I squealed as he scooped me up into a fireman's lift.

I whacked his back playfully, "Noah! Put me down! Noah!"

"Can't do that Dayton," he laughed.

TWTWTWTWTWTW

I lay with my head resting on Noah's chest and listened to his heart steadily beating.

"Your heart's beating," I murmured.

"Oh good," he replied softly as he threaded his fingers through my hair, "At least I'm not a zombie"

I laughed as I traced my fingers along the smooth planes of his chest. He sighed happily.

"The Colonel's going to kill you"

"Huh?"

I put on a deep harsh voice, "You're fraternising with a Torchwood officer Connell. That's got to be worse that murder or something"

He laughed, "Funnily enough, I really don't care"

"Hmm, a UNIT guy and a Torchwood girl. Whatever next?"

I kissed the soft skin of his chest and he sighed happily again.

"Oh fuck it," I said suddenly, "I think we should tell everyone else"

Noah shifted and put his weight on his elbow effectively squashing us even closer together in the small bed, "Really?"

"Yeah. I like this too much. I don't bloody well want to hide. I don't like lying, and sneaking around and deleting CCTV footage"

"We're that bad?"

I nodded thinking of all the missing CCTV footage of us I'd deleted, "We should just tell them. They're starting to like you, it's just the whole UNIT thing"

"I'll leave UNIT"

"Awww, but I like the uniform"

He grinned, "Fine, if I keep the uniform can I leave?"

I smiled at him, "No. I think it would be good if you stayed. You could help us"

"Ooh, would I be like a spy"

I laughed, "Not quite"

"I could do that. So we'll tell your parents. But not UNIT. I don't want UNIT to know"

"I can live with that"

"We better get up then"

"Aww," I moaned, "One things for sure. I'm never going to be able to look at the Den in the same way"

Noah laughed, "Your parents wont get mad at us for, you know… this"

I snorted with laughter, "You kidding me? One, you really think I'm going to tell them and two, from what I understand my parents were like rabbits around this place when they first got together. It would be a major case of hypocrisy for them to say anything"

"Which is a lovely thought"

"Makes it a whole lot easier to get up though"

"Urgh"

* * *

A/N: The next chapter will be up asap!


	7. Confrontations

A/N: Thanx for all the reviews again, you make me so happy! Also, we've managed to clock up over 4,000 fics! Brilliant or what!

* * *

Chapter 7- Confrontations

We then got down to discussing various ways to tell them, and of course many imagined consequences.

"Why don't we start making out just as they walk in," suggested Noah.

I hit him on the arm for that, "Nobody says 'making out' anymore Noah. You sound thirteen. And that's a rubbish idea"

He shrugged, "I like it"

I rolled my eyes.

Eventually we decided on just straight telling them. I didn't even begin to estimate how awkward it was.

We sort of attempted to announce it quietly. Until I chickened out a bit.

Noah nudged me when I didn't want to say anything and I shook my head at him.

He rolled his eyes, removed his beret and bravely called out, "Jack"

I whacked his arm and hissed at him, "He's still got his gun on him"

Noah went white for a second then shrugged my warning off, "Ianto"

My parents looked at us with the mixture of curiosity and suspicion they reserved specially for Noah.

Noah grinned at me and I took a deep breath, "Erm. Dad. Tad," I noticed everybody else become distracted from their dull files by my embarrassment, "I was wondering. Erm, we were wondering, if, if it was ok if… you know"

Tad raised an eyebrow at me and looked at Dad who just shrugged.

I sighed and went for it, "IfmeandNoahcouldgooutbecauseIreallylikehimandIknowyoudon'tandIjust-"

"Dayton," said Tad, "English please. Or even Welsh, although your Dad wouldn't understand, just something that isn't gibberish"

I blushed redder and took another deep breath, "Me and Noah, we want to go out with each other"

"Oh," said Dad. And he shrugged, "Is that all?"

"Finally!" squeaked Cassie and I saw Tanwen exchange a tenner with her as I gaped at Dad a little bit.

"Huh?"

"To be honest I'm surprised you didn't say anything before now"

"We suspected when we kept finding little CCTV black spots," explained Tad, "And we've had a bit of experience of them at Torchwood"

I blushed again.

Roan was smiling, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. He still didn't like Noah then. In contrast Ioan was grinning at Noah. I could almost hear him saying, "Do you realise what you're letting yourself in for?" to Noah. Noah grinned back and slipped his hand into mine.

"See, not so hard," he whispered.

"Do you realise that means I'm the only one here who isn't paired off," complained Roan.

"I'm single," said Cassie quietly.

Roan grinned, "Your too old for me Cassie"

Cassie pulled a face, "I didn't mean that, idiot."

TWTWTWTWTWTW

"You seriously don't mind Dad," I asked quietly later that afternoon as my Dad finished a report in his office.

"About you and Noah? I mind in that you're my daughter, and that's what Dad's do. And I mind in that he's from UNIT"

He saw me frown angrily and quickly held up his hands, "But I don't mind him. Really. I guess. Sort of. I was the same with Ioan, ask Tanwen"

I sighed and he looked concerned.

"Dayton, do you think I'm some kind of monstrous bear or something. Of course I don't mind you going out with anyone. Unless they were a Weevil, that I'd have trouble with. But have you any idea how much of a hypocrite I'd be if I even started to discourage you?"

"I'm going to guess a big one"

He nodded, "Don't tell your Tad that"

I grinned, "Lips are sealed"

I sighed relieved but we were interrupted by a sudden blare from an alarm somewhere.

Tad stuck his head in the door, "Jack we've found the plasmavores again"

I got up quickly and rushed out the office to get my gun.

"Where are you going?" asked Dad as I grabbed my heavy semi-automatic.

"I'm coming with you"

"No you're not. It tried to kill you last time"

"And its going to regret that. I'm a good shot Dad"

"Dayton-"

"Its fine Dad"

I suddenly felt someone place their hands on my shoulders, "I'll look after her," said Noah from behind me.

Dad frowned, "You'd better"

"I promise I won't leave her side Jack"

If I wasn't so scared I would have smiled. Perhaps because I trusted Noah, my parents were also starting to.

"Fine, Roan you're staying here and Ioan I want you and Tanwen to go in your car, we can't all fit in the SUV," Dad turned to Tad, "Ianto after all this perhaps we could look into upgrading the SUV to one of those jeeps"

TWTWTWTWTWTWTW

We found them in a children's play park. Children played happily in the bright sunlight, completely unaware of the killers hovering in the shadows of some nearby trees. My blood chilled when I saw them, the one that had attacked me was standing in front of the others. Perhaps he had assumed leadership.

A few children watched us curiously. As Tanwen and Ioan climbed from Ioan's Audi Tad had a few hurried but urgent conversations with the people in the park warning them that there was a gas leak. Noah hung back until the last kid was far enough away from us then he pulled his large gun from the SUV. Dad smiled when he saw that.

The plasmavores watched all this. My attacker's long dark hair blew slightly in the wind as he beckoned us over. Dad stormed towards them.

"We wouldn't have hurt them," said the plasmavore, "Our race refuses to feed on children"

"Oh you mean you have some sort of moral code?" said Dad coldly.

The plasmavore shrugged, "That and their blood tastes too sweet"

Noah shivered like last time at the plasmavores cold words. This time I was able to squeeze his hand. It settled me down and I felt a bit of my fear recede.

"Are you going to leave?" asked Dad.

"No, I have some unfinished business" and he looked directly at me.

I glared back and levelled my gun at it, but before I could get the chance to shoot Noah opened fire beside me. I jumped back in shock but managed to see his bullets thunk into the plasmavore. It was knocked to the ground by the barrage and all hell broke loose.

I was thankful I was already in a shooting stance as I was able to quickly fire a bullet into the nearest plasmavore. Unfortunately I missed and hit it in the shoulder but someone had fired a few shots at the same one and got it in the head. I glanced around and saw Cassie grinning at me.

Noah was firing short blasts at the remaining two but had to stop to reload his gun. Another plasmavore approached him while he was vulnerable but Tanwen managed to hit it before it could get close.

We suddenly all stopped firing, realising that Dad had the last plasmavore pinned to the ground. Lucky him, he didn't need to worry about little things like getting killed.

The plasmavore thrashed around under his grip.

"Are there any more of you?" Dad snarled.

"No" choked the plasmavore.

Tad moved to stand over the plasmavore and pointed the gun at its head.

Dad stood up and the plasmavore began to scramble away but stopped when Tad cocked his gun.

"We're going to send you back through the rift and you are never going to set foot on this planet again. You got that?"

The plasmavore nodded dumbly and for the first time his dark eyes didn't seem scary. Instead they showed its own terror.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTW

We were busy hauling the bodies of the three dead plasmavores out of the SUV when a large UNIT jeep pulled up in the private car park.

"What the hell?" muttered Cassie as the Colonel got out of the passenger seat.

"We must have really pissed him off," whispered Ioan, "If he's come down here himself"

Another man got out the driver's seat. He placed his officers cap on his head and saluted sharply.

"That's Marks," muttered Noah to Dad.

"I know," replied Dad.

Noah wrapped his arm around my waist protectively and I relaxed into the warmth. The Colonel caught sight of the movement and glared at Noah, then turned his gaze to the plasmavore bodies. I began to wish we had a better method of transporting the bodies than the SUV boot.

"Harkness. I understand you've detained the plasmavores"

"What do you care?" said Dad.

"I care that my soldier is still involved," replied the Colonel.

"No you don't. What's up? Have the big guys in London been checking up on you? Perhaps its because of that report Ianto sent about your resistance to cooperate?"

The Colonel turned up his glare to little effect. My Tad waved back.

"You see Colonel, I do not appreciate your attitude," said my Dad with a grin on his face.

"I had a suspicion one of you had sent that," said the Colonel icily.

I began to wonder, not for the first time, what had happened to cause so much tension between my parents and this man.

"How did you know about the plasmavores anyway?" asked Tad.

The Colonel flicked his gaze to him and then after a second of consideration he turned to look at Noah.

"We have sources"

Nobody could doubt the meaning of his words. We all turned to stare at Noah. I felt my stomach drop and I moved away from his embrace. It now felt icy cold.

Had Noah been a spy?

Noah gaped in shock, "What?" he asked incredulously, "I don't know what you're talking about"

I started to run through things in my head.

Was that why Noah always wanted to stay in the Hub?

Was that why he'd been allowed to stay when the other soldiers were forced to leave?

Was that why he was with me?

The Colonel smiled, "Now come on Connell, you should be proud of what you did. You did your job and you did it well"

Tanwen broke the silence first, "You dirty rat!" she stormed up to Noah, "What the hell! I knew there was something off about you!"

And suddenly my whole family was yelling at him. I couldn't hear, couldn't think. I felt someone grab my hand and saw Noah stare into my eyes.

"Dayton, I swear. I don't know anything about this. He's lying" he pleaded.

I stared at him and tried to drown out the yelling.

_"You could help us"_

_"Ooh, would I be like a spy"_

_"Not quite"_

_"I could do that"_

And I couldn't look at him. I dropped his hand and turned away.

"Dayton," he said quietly.

Dad was watching me. He was staying out of the yelling but I could see he was trying desperately not to shoot Noah then and there. I glanced at the Colonel. He was relishing the turmoil he'd caused. I felt so useless. I had been used.

I felt a few tears begin to slip from my cheeks and I began to walk towards the door to the Hub. I wasn't looking at the bodies of the plasmavores but suddenly through the yelling I heard a feral snarl behind me. I turned and saw the plasmavore, the one that had vowed to get me, leap at me.

I had never believed those things about death happening in slow motion, but suddenly everything did seem to slow down. I heard the silence as everyone realised what was happening and I heard my Tad yell out my name in horror.

But all I thought was, "Good"

As the being that would kill me rocketed towards me there was a quick flash of red and black and the loud flare of gunfire.

The body of the plasmavore crashed to the ground on top of Noah. I took a second to sink in before I realised that I wasn't going to die. I looked round to see my parents all ready racing to help Noah. He might have betrayed us but we couldn't let a man die. In contrast the Colonel and Marks were nowhere to be seen.

They hauled the plasmavore off Noah and Cassie quickly checked to make sure it was definitely dead this time. She then turned her attentions to Noah.

He was bleeding heavily from his torso. Ioan had already taken off his jumper and was pressing it to the wound.

"Bloody hell! That thing must have been pretending," said Ioan.

"Will he be all right?" I asked and was surprised to note the lack of fear in my voice. I was concerned, but only as I would be for a normal person in a Weevil attack. His betrayal had removed the fear I would have felt for him before.

"He needs to go to hospital," said Cassie, "Ianto get the SUV ready and Tanwen can you get us emergency vehicle driving rights?"

Tanwen nodded and jumped into the SUV.

Dad looked at me, "Are you coming?"

I glanced at Noah's unconscious form.

"I can't"

* * *

A/N: So this is the penultimate... penultamate... pen... one before the last chapter to let you all know. So stay tuned...


	8. Revelations

A/N: So this is it, the final chapter... Massive thanks must go to Robert Pattinson (even though I have never met the guy in my life) because his song Never Think helped so much when I was writing this chapter!

* * *

Chapter 8- Revelations

For the first time in a very long time I started to wish I still went to school. Spending the entire day in the hub was slowly driving me crazy, but I didn't want to go outside. My parents were constantly asking if I was all right, to which my answer was normally, "What do you think?"

That wasn't exactly a winning strategy and only deepened their concern.

Most of the time I hid in the Den. This wasn't exactly clever either, since it only reminded me of Noah, but by playing my iPod as loudly as possible and losing myself in a book I managed to block out a lot of stuff.

I also managed to read through the last Harry Potter book in one day. I reckon that's some form of achievement.

The few times I did venture into the main hub, I was on a mission to obtain coffee, or very occasionally to type a few numbers to keep the computer's running since Dan hadn't recovered yet. Everyone stayed away from me knowing I'd snap at them as soon as they said hi.

"I guess you were right," I eventually complained to Tad one morning, "You shouldn't trust UNIT soldiers. I'm such an idiot Tad"

Tad looked up from his computer, "No you're not"

"I am. If it wasn't for me Noah wouldn't have been able to get that information"

"Don't think like that"

"But its true! I was just so… stupid. I thought, just for a little while, I thought that he might have loved me. And that I loved him"

Tad hugged me, "Dayton, everyone's done silly things in the name of love. Believe me. I've done a few ridiculously idiotic things"

"Did you put the rest of your team in danger?"

"Erm… you didn't endanger us"

"Are you kidding me. The most spiteful and downright horrible person is in charge of a military force has a pretty detailed scan of the Hub. If he wanted to he could just invade. Get Torchwood off his back forever. And I don't want to think what UNIT would do with access to our technology"

Tad paused then said, "What did you say?"

"That the Colonel could wipe us out if he wanted-"

"No, no. You said spiteful," he then murmured, "I wonder…"

Tad was deep in thought now. He hugged me again quickly then ran off in the direction of Dad's office.

I sighed again and went to get another cup of coffee.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Dad sat me down later that night in front of my computer.

"What do you need me to do Dad?" I asked, assuming that I was needed to track something.

"I need you to get better love"

I glared at him, "I'm fine Dad"

He snorted, "Fine? Dayton you're messed up. You don't talk. You don't eat-"

"I do eat!"

"Coffee & Ben and Jerry's are not food groups. Look I know I wasn't nice to Noah when he was here-"

"Good. He didn't deserve to have you being nice to him"

"Would you let me talk?"

I shut up.

Dad sighed heavily, "I didn't give him a chance, because he was UNIT. I forgot that Torchwood used to be like UNIT, but back then I found people I could believe in. And we changed Torchwood. UNIT could do the same, if only they had the right kind of people in charge"

"What are you saying?"

"I visited That Idiot today. I had a bit of a hunch about Noah, Dayton the boy jumped in front of a vampire to protect you. Doesn't that say something?"

I shrugged, "Perhaps he was feeling guilty," I mumbled.

Dad sighed heavily, "Look Dan gave me the contact cameras to use. Watch this"

I watched as the screen showed Dad's point of view of The Colonel behind his desk.

_"What do you want Harkness?"_

_"I want to know what the hell you were playing at"_

_"I believe its called reconnaissance Harkness"_

_"Not that. That was bad enough, but what the hell were you doing using my daughter. That boy has destroyed her. I cannot believe that you would stoop so low as to let a young girl believe he was in love with her, just to get at me-"_

_"That was unforeseen"_

_"What?"_

_"He never even knew we had a scanner hidden in his beret. Originally the whole team had scanners, but when Captain Marks noticed the rapport between Connell and your daughter, he suggested that we fell back and let him infiltrate"_

_"So that's why you left"_

_"Yes"_

_"And he had no idea"_

_"No. We elected not to tell him. Connell is apparently infamous among the barracks for his terrible poker face"_

_"You're a bastard"_

_"A bastard with very detailed information of your base. Thanks to your daughter"_

_"We'll delete it. Ianto is in your system right now. One word from me and any information can be wiped at the touch of a button"_

_"You do that Harkness. You can hack into our system however much you want. But I had the foresight to create a master copy, which is always on my person"_

_"You're bluffing"_

_"I am not"_

_The Colonel opened his breast pocket and pulled out a green minidisk, "Slightly archaic perhaps, but safe and secure"_

_The camera moved with Dad as he quickly pulled out his webly and shot the disc out of the Colonel's hand. It shattered into fragments and the Colonel jumped back in shock._

_"I was right Hopkins. You are an idiot. And if you ever, ever do anything to hurt my family, I swear that you will be relieved of your command and retconned"_

_"You can't do that Harkness"_

_"I'll find away. Because you see, there's one major difference between you and I. Unlike you I actually give a damn about the people in my care. They're just kids, and you used them"_

_Dad stood up to leave but turned back briefly to say one more thing, "And Colonel. For the last time its Harkness-Jones"_

I stared blankly at the screen as Dad switched the video off.

"You're a bloody good shot Dad" I said after a second.

Dad smiled, "It wasn't Noah"

"So I see," I couldn't help but smile, "So do you think he really liked me?"

Dad's smile turned into a grin, "Dayton, I know he loves you"

I just had to ask one more thing, "Dad, why does the Colonel hate us?"

Dad sighed, "When you were just a baby we heard about a Hoix attack. It was pretty grizzly, because you know what Hoix are like. A soldier who was back from Iraq and his wife were attacked and the woman was pregnant. She and the baby were killed. That night Andrew Hopkins lost his whole family"

"What was her name?" I asked.

"Sarah. We arrived too late to save her but we managed to stop the Hoix from getting Hopkins. In the hospital that night he asked me if he could work with us. I didn't let him because he had the wrong kind of personality. He wanted revenge and he hated us for not letting him get it. So he transferred from the army to UNIT and worked his way up the ranks"

"Do you ever wish you'd let him work here?"

"No. I knew from one look of his file he was a volatile type"

I nodded then stood up suddenly, "I need to go visit Noah. I don't want to lose him. Can you give me a lift to the hospital?"

Dad nodded and grabbed the SUV keys.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Noah was asleep in the hospital bed when I went in. Dad was having a hurried conversation with the nurse outside. I gasped when I saw him.

He was so pale and deep purple streaks abused his eyes. His hair was plastered to his forehead and he'd gotten so thin. The constant beep of his heartbeat sounded so much weaker than the heartbeat I remembered listening to.

I quickly rushed to his side and took his icy cold hand in mine.

His eyes flickered open, at first they were dull and held barely a fraction of the sparkle I remembered, but then he saw me and they instantly brightened.

"Dayton," he whispered.

"I'm here"

"I didn't think I'd see you again"

"Can't get rid of me"

"Dayton, look, I swear I had no idea-"

I put of finger on his lips to keep him quiet, "Shhh. I know. We were both used"

He delicately kissed my finger then winced in pain.

"You're an idiot, you know that," I laughed.

"I know"

I looked out the window to my Dad and the nurse. Dad nodded at me and guided the nurse away from the window.

"Scooch over will you," I asked.

He carefully moved over allowing me space on the bed. Thankfully the bed was a bit bigger than a standard single so there was a little more room than we had been used to. This time as we lay next to each other he rested his head on my shoulder.

"I've had an idea," I said quietly, "If you left UNIT you could come work with us"

"I don't think your Dad would like that"

"He would"

"He wouldn't."

"But I can't let you go back there… I almost lost you"

"Yeah, but you wont. And I was listening to your Dad a few times, and he's right. One day I'm going to get rid of that beret and earn myself an officer's cap. UNIT needs to change, and if I get a high enough rank, I can change it," he slipped his hand into mine, "UNIT and Torchwood, we can finally stop fighting each other and start working together. Like we're supposed to. We could change things together"

I laughed softly, "A UNIT guy and a Torchwood girl. You think that could work?"

"I know it can"

I smiled, "You should get some sleep"

"I'll try"

We sat quietly for a few minutes.

"Dayton?"

"Yeah"

"I love you"

I smiled, "That's the painkillers talking Noah"

He laughed, "Is it hell. I'm serious. I love you"

I kissed his forehead, "I love you too Noah"

**3 years later**

There wasn't a large crowd, just the soldiers of the barracks, a couple of high-up officers and our Torchwood team. I stood next to David Ross with Noah on my other side. Both were dressed in their smart military dress uniforms. We were at the front.

Dad had managed to get the Torchwood team just behind us, even though it was a UNIT ceremony. I heard Ioan anxiously snap at the soldier next to Tanwen for bumping into her, hissing, "Hey! Can't you see that she's pregnant?"

Looking around the dull barracks that looked almost unused I could suddenly understand why Noah always found the Hub so interesting.

Eventually the Major in front of us had finished his speech, which had been difficult enough to understand through his French accent. He smiled at Noah.

Noah smiled nervously at me then kissed me lightly on the cheek before going up to the Major. He had his new cap with its bright red UNIT band tucked under his arm and saluted sharply with his other hand. Seemingly unable to stop himself he winked at me. He still hadn't changed.

I grinned proudly as the French Major formally completed Noah's promotion. Noah bowed his head respectfully then signalled for me to go over to him. I blushed, wondering whether I was allowed to when David decided for me and shoved me forward.

Noah hugged me and whispered in my ear, "Told you I was going to earn myself a cap"

"I'm very proud Captain Connell," I whispered back, then knowing the eyes of the small crowd were on us I grabbed the lapels of his smart woollen jacket and kissed him. I wanted everyone to know that he was mine.

I heard my Dad laugh, "What can I say, she must take after me."

I didn't care though. We were going to change things. A UNIT guy and a Torchwood girl.

We were making it work.

* * *

A/N: So thats all for this particular part of my AU saga, hope you all enjoyed the ride and thanx so much for reading it! I give you all warm fuzzies!


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